A fireball in the sky over New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Connecticut has been confirmed as a meteor.

The American Meteor Society (AMS) said the object was a meteor after more than 30 sightings were logged across the four states.

"This was indeed a meteor," AMS operations manager Robert Lunsford said. "This object was most likely the size of a small car before striking the upper atmosphere. With it terminating over the Atlantic Ocean, there is no hope for recovering any possible debris."

Several people reported seeing an object that resembled a meteor in the sky over Philadelphia's Navy Yard Monday.

The sightings occurred shortly before 12:45pm local time, according to witnesses who contacted myFOXphilly.com and the AMS or posted about the sightings on Twitter and Facebook.

Chris O'Connell, a reporter for myFOXphilly.com, also saw the object, which he described as "majestic" and "beautiful," at around 12:35pm.

There were several reports of similar occurrences Monday in Connecticut and New York.

Most meteor sightings occur at night, so the spate of reports during the day indicated the event was unusual.

Meteorites are pieces of space rock that look like balls of fire streaking across the sky when they enter the Earth's atmosphere. Most are remnants of asteroids or possibly comets and their visibility depends on their size -- many of them are only a few centimeters in length, and most vaporize before they hit the ground.

The Navy Yard facility is on the Delaware River, which is also used as a flight path to Philadelphia International Airport.